Reinstated Robots
Occasionally throughout Robot Wars, the winners of a battle were unable or unwilling to proceed. In these cases, the robot they defeated would be Reinstated. The reasons for robots being reinstated varied. The first instance occurred after the Heat Final of Heat D in Series 3, where Ultor handed its victory over to Big Brother after its team could not attend filming for the Semi-Finals and overturned the Judges' decision. The most recent example occurred in Heat 4 of Series 9, where Frostbite withdrew from the Head-to-Head rounds due to suffering terminal damage, and was replaced by Wyrm. Another way to be reinstated was to win a Losers Melee. These battles were introduced in the Semi-Finals of Series 5, and were also used in Series 6. The reduction of Heats from 16 to 12 meant there were now six robots in each Semi-Final, which all faced each other in a series of three one-on-one battles in the first round. The losers of these battles were drawn into a three-way melee, with the winner being reinstated and going through to the second round of the Semi-Finals, giving them a second chance to reach the Grand Final. The Losers Melee was dropped for Series 7 when the number of Heats was increased back to 16. Losers Melees were also used in the first series of Dutch Robot Wars, as there were six robots in each Heat. Round 1 consisted of three one-on-one battles, with the losers of the three battles going into the Losers Melee, and the winner of that battle being reinstated and going through to Round 2. In the second series, the number of robots in each Heat was increased to eight, so Losers Melees were no longer used. Also, in both series of Dutch Robot Wars, the Jury would pick robots that had been eliminated in the Heats to be reinstated and go through to the Grand Final. These were referred to as Wild Cards. Originally, only one losing robot was given a Wild Card, but this was increased to three in the Second Series. Wild Cards were also used in UK Series 8 and Series 9, where the Judges would select one losing Heat Finalist to be reinstated and join the five Heat winners in the Grand Final. Series 10 introduced a number of format changes which allowed more opportunities for competitors to be reinstated. As six competitors featured in every heat instead of eight in Series 8-9, only one winner from each Group Battle would automatically progress to the Heat Semi-Finals. The losers would then be placed into the Robot Redemption round, a pair of head-to-head battles where the winners would be reinstated as the other two Heat Semi-Finalists. Series 10 also featured changes to the Wild Card selection process. Unlike the previous two series, the two losing robots in the Heat Semi-Finals would face each other in a Third Place Playoff – the winners of each Playoff were eligible to be reinstated alongside the losing Heat Finalists. Instead of being chosen by the Judges, the Wild Card place was determined by the 10 Robot Rumble, a melee where every second and third-place finisher from the heats would fight each other. The last robot standing would receive the Wild Card place and join the five heat winners in the Grand Final. Note: Reinstated Robots should not be confused with Substitute Robots. Substitute Robots are robots that were not originally intended to be in a tournament, and were only brought in when a competitor in that event had to pull out. Reinstated Robots were already part of a tournament, fought at least one battle before being knocked out, but were given a second chance. List of Reinstated Robots UK Series Wild Cards UK Series Dutch Series Losers Melees UK Series Dutch Series Robot Redemption UK Series 10 Robot Rumble UK Series References Category:Terminology Category:Reinstated Robots